The Washington Post - USA (2022-04-03)

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SUNDAY, APRIL 3 , 2022. WASHINGTONPOST.COM/LOCAL EZ RE C

THE DISTRICT

Bike and bus initiatives

and traffic safety projects

are sought in the mayor’s

transportation budget. C2

LOCAL OPINIONS

With statehood unlikely in

the near term, the District

should focus on attaining

expanded home rule. C4

OBITUARIES

Richard Howard, 92, was

a Pulitzer-winning poet

and renowned translator

50 ° 58 ° 59 ° 53 ° of Fr ench literature. C7

8 a.m. Noon 4 p.m. 8 p.m.

High today at

approx. 2 p.m.

61

°

Precip: 25%

Wind: WNW

10-20 mph

T

he day after the American Psychological Associa-

tion’s newest leader pitched her vision for the

organization to dozens of her colleagues in D.C.,

she walked into Maryland’s oldest Black church

and stepped up to the wooden pulpit where her

father and grandfather used to preach.

“Hallelujah,” said Thema Bryant, 48, s miling as her voice

boomed through the century-old sanctuary at Bethel AME

Church in West Baltimore. “It’s good to be home.”

Bryant, who was elected in December to lead the

nation’s largest organization for psychologists, grew up in

these pews. It was here she first met people who were

hurting — from racism, gun violence, addiction — and saw

how they could recover.

“You all raised me,” Bryant said, addressing the all-Black

congregation for the first time since the pandemic started.

“A nd let me tell you, I’ve not forgotten.”

A tenured professor at Pepperdine University in Los

Angeles, Bryant is an ordained elder in the African

Methodist Episcopal Church, an outspoken survivor of

sexual assault, a daughter to two ministers and a sister to a

popular Georgia pastor who recently went on a hunger

strike for voting rights. She spent part of her teenage years

SEE BRYANT ON C6

BY REBECCA TAN IN BALTIMORE

Bringing the Black church

to American psychology

Thema Bryant will become president of the American Psychological

Association at a critical point for expanding mental health care

MARVIN JOSEPH/THE WASHINGTON POST

BY JESSICA CONTRERA

If an adult pays to sexually

abuse a child, that child is a

victim. The adult is the criminal.

But under the law, that’s not al-

ways true: In 23 states, it is still

possible to prosecute a child for

prostitution.

Maryland may become the next

state to make that illegal.

After years of legislative limbo,

the state’s General Assembly is

quickly advancing a “safe harbor”

bill that intends to protect victims

of child sex trafficking from being

punished. If the bill becomes law,

people 17 and younger could no

longer be charged with prostitu-

tion and may be shielded from

other charges that result from

their trafficking.

“It will lead to better outcomes

for trafficking victims, improve

resiliency for survivors, and en-

sure our justice system is focused

on true offenders and not on

victims,” Del. Brooke E. Lierman

(D-Baltimore City), the bill’s l ong-

time champion, testified Tuesday

before the Senate Judicial Pro-

ceedings Committee.

Between 2010 and 2020, 110

youths were arrested for prostitu-

tion and commercialized vice in

the state, according to the Univer-

sity of Maryland SAFE Center for

SEE SAFE HARBOR ON C7

Md. bill would

shield c hild

victims of sex

tra∞cking

themselves. I’m awful at doing

that for myself.

When I was 19 and studying in

Santiago, Chile, as part of an

overseas program, I found myself

doubling over from a pain that

would radiate from my side to

my back. It would come and go,

and at moments sweep in with

such intensity that I would

immediately need to vomit. I

went three months with that

pain before finally telling one of

SEE VARGAS ON C5

tried to sleep in case stress was

the culprit. I decided to wait and

see how I felt in the morning

before determining whether I

needed to go to the hospital. I

did this, knowing I would have

advised a friend otherwise.

“Just go to the emergency

room,” I would have told her.

“If it’s nothing, you’ll just lose

time and money,” I would have

nagged.

I am great at nagging friends

and relatives to take care of

the hospital.

My stubbornness told me I

should take a hot shower.

The steam helped ease my

breathing a bit and an at-home

test told me I didn’t have covid-

19. I didn’t want to alarm my
    family unnecessarily, so I
    downplayed how sick I felt to my
    husband and children, took an
    aspirin in case my symptoms
    were heart-related, propped
    myself into a sitting position in
    case acid reflux was to blame and

It also felt surprisingly

comforting to take control of the

outside of my body as alarms

went off on the inside.

That day, I had gone from

feeling fine to feeling as if

someone was sitting on top of me

and clutching my windpipe. My

chest felt tight, and every deep

breath hurt. I couldn’t lie flat

without needing to immediately

sit up and gasp for air.

An online search of my

symptoms told me I should go to

I shaved my legs

in case I died.

That action,

when I think

about it now,

seems ridiculous.

But in the

moment, a mix of

pain and worry

left me unsure of what was

happening with my body and I

figured if I ended up on a gurney,

at least my legs would look their

best.

Theresa

Vargas

Women are sharing their ‘medical gaslighting’ stories. Now what?

ABOVE: Thema Bryant at Bethel AME Church in West Baltimore last month. Bryant, 48,

regularly attended services at Maryland’s oldest Black church as a child.

BY LUZ LAZO,

MICHAEL LARIS

AND LAURA VOZZELLA

Virginia agencies c ould not ver-

ify the location and extent of

stopped vehicles along a 48-mile

stretch of Interstate 95 during a

January snowstorm, leaving hun-

dreds of people stranded over-

night on the East Coast’s busiest

highway, according to an inde-

pendent review released Friday of

the storm response.

The state hired Arlington-

based consulting firm CNA to re-

view how the Virginia Depart-

ment of Transportation, State Po-

lice and Department of Emergen-

cy Management reacted to the

storm, examining what went

wrong over 36 hours along the

highway south of Washington.

The 41-page report wraps up a

three-month investigation into

one of the Washington region’s

worst travel debacles since a 2011

snowstorm created gridlock dur-

ing an evening rush. January’s

storm also raised questions about

the national capital region’s abili-

ty to cope with an even more se-

vere emergency.

The report cited a list of factors

that contributed to the break-

down, including power outages

knocking out traffic cameras, r oad

conditions that hindered moni-

toring and reporting, and a “geo-

graphic unalignment” in central

Virginia, where various bureau-

cratic boundaries drawn by agen-

cies hindered in-person coordina-

tion.

As heavy snow began falling

early Jan. 3, information from

stranded motorists was pouring

into VDOT’s consumer service

center and 911 systems, while mo-

torists were posting on social me-

dia that traffic was stopped. State

officials weren’t prepared to tap

SEE SNOWSTORM ON C2

Report

dissects

debacle

on I-95

JANUARY STORM

TRAPPED H UNDREDS

Analysis: Agencies didn’t

BY LAURA VOZZELLA see scope of meltdown

richmond — State legislators

will gather Monday in the Capi-

tol, under orders from Gov.

Glenn Youngkin (R) to convene a

special session, then quickly turn

around and go home.

The brief meeting anticipated

in Richmond, while not intended

to defy Virginia’s new Republi-

can governor, will nevertheless

remind the former Carlyle Group

executive that he’s no longer in

the business world, where he

could set deadlines and demand

they be met. A governor can call

the General Assembly to Rich-

mond, but he can’t make it

legislate.

“I doubt anything will come of

it,” said Sen. Janet D. Howell

(D-Fairfax), chairwoman of the

Senate Finance and Appropria-

tions Committee, who called the

session “premature.” “The budg-

et is still at an impasse, and most

bills that are outstanding have

fiscal impacts. This is a total

waste of time for legislators.”

At an appearance in Rich-

mond on Friday, Youngkin sug-

gested the session would give

legislators a necessary nudge

even though there is no prospect

for a budget vote that day. “We

have got to get moving,” he told

reporters after a n appearance

with Latino business leaders at

the Wooden Spoon Restaurant.

“I am a little disappointed that

there wasn’t more interaction”

among negotiators “this week,

but I fully expect them to be in

meetings on Monday” and be-

yond, he said. “I think because of

the quality of the people we have

working on this, they can get this

done i n a reasonably short period

of time.”

After failing to reach a budget

deal during the regular session,

which ended March 12, General

Assembly members adjourned

knowing they would have to

finish the job in a special session.

They expected the governor to

call them back to Richmond once

House and Senate budget negoti-

ators hashed out a deal on the

two-year spending plan.

But Youngkin did not wait for

a deal before calling them back

and launching television ads

meant to gin up support for the

tax cuts he wants the budget to

include. Eleven days after legisla-

tors wrapped up their regular

session, the governor announced

April 4 as the date for the special

session, catching Democrats and

at least some Republicans off

guard.

At that point, House and Sen-

ate negotiators had not even

resumed budget talks. Indeed,

they still have not done so, aside

from some work among commit-

tee members and staff. B oth sides

opted for a “cooling off” period

after the regular session and felt

confident about overcoming

their differences long before the

new fiscal year begins July 1.

Leaders from both sides ex-

pect to sit down and establish a

SEE VIRGINIA ON C5

Virginia

assembly

set for brief

session

Youngkin seeks to apply

pressure for a budget,

but no deal is in sight